The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Saturday 17 October 2015

A Short Week in Wales – Monday

Last Sunday it occurred to me that there was no reason that I needed* to be at home this week and thus, with Mick away working**, I may as well take a trip somewhere. I soon came up with a vague notion of a plan, filled Colin’s water tank and threw the necessary stuff into a crate, before I even looked at the weather forecast. By good fortune, the forecast turned out to be excellent, with high pressure sitting over the UK.

Up bright and early on Monday morning, off I set Walesward with good intentions of visiting the top of Glasgwm on my way to the seaside. Those good intentions came to nothing, when I overshot my intended layby (strictly speaking, I could have made the turn, but I didn’t think the van on my tail would appreciate the manoeuvre!) and was unable to turn around in a sensible distance. Having completely forgotten the research I’d done months and months ago, which suggested an alternative start point at the top of Ochr y Bwlch, I continued onwards to Barmouth and spent a nice sunny afternoon alternately ambling around (including a seaside walk and a trip up Dinas Oleu) and reading about the Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst***.

My night-stop for Monday night was perfectly legal, if a little cheeky (to my mind, anyway), but it gave me a quiet night, so that I would be raring to go again bright and early Tuesday morning.

 

(*There are lots of jobs that need doing at home. The downside of being away so much is that they don’t get done. The upside of being away so much is that we’re not at home being bothered by the deficiencies of the house!

**Maybe one day Mick will truly get to grips with the concept of retirement!

***Thank you Conrad! It had me gripped and I rattled through it in a couple of days.)

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